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Kits United Kingdom - World War 2

Published 11-Apr-2017

Eduard 1/72 Focke-Wulf Fw190A-5

By Paul Carter

Eduard 1/72 Focke-Wulf Fw190A-5 courtesy of Creative Models

Eduard 1/72 Focke-Wulf Fw190A-5

Reviewed for Military Modelling by Paul Carter

The History

History is said to written by the victors and had the outcome in Europe been different in 1945, the Fw 190 would have been hailed as the best piston engine fighter of the war. Designed by Kurt Tank as a successor to the Bf109, the prototype first flew in 1939 and, after a difficult test program that almost resulted in its cancellation, the Fw 190 entered service in late 1940. The arrival of the ‘Butcher Bird’ was a shock for the RAF and its Spitfire Mk V’s the powerful BMW801 radial engine fighter enabling the Luftwaffe to gain superiority at low and medium altitudes until the arrival of the Spitfire Mk IX.

A true multi-role combat aircraft, the Fw 190A-5 series carried out fighter, fighter-bomber, radar equipped nightfighter, ground attack and reconnaissance roles on both the Eastern and Western front.

The Model

This Eduard model comes in a top-opening sized box that Airfix used to use for their Lancaster, somewhat an overkill for a 1/72 fighter! Green issues addressed, the latest release of the Eduard Fw 190A-5 comes with the same two grey plastic and one clear sprue as used for the -A8 model. The plastic is good to work with and the mouldings are very crisp, the ejector pin moulds are thoughtfully positioned, panel lines are neatly recessed and the accompanying rivets look spot on, refined and restrained while the clear part looks look flawless.

Construction takes place in eight stages, beginning with the ten-piece cockpit tub, even without the Eduard PE that a lot of modellers will use, this looks really busy, the raised details on the side panels a nice feature. The tub is then fitted into the fuselage along with the firewall and the exhaust ejector stubs. Next up is constructing the wing & wheelwell while the two MG151 Canons are added at this point, some really nice structural detail on show here. At this same stage, the two-part front fuselage top which holds the MG17s is fitted. The separately moulded rudder, tailplane and ailerons are then cemented in place followed by the well reproduced undercarriage and wheels. The final stage of building then takes place taking in the canopy and propeller.

The assembly process itself is relatively easy although there have been reports the undercarriage may take some care to fit.

As a Weekend Edition there is no PE, masks or resin and the well produced decal set only covers two aircraft:

Fw 190A5 – W Nr 7334, Oblt Josef Wurmheller, 9/JG2, Vannes, July 1943

Fw 190A5 – W Nr 5868, Oblt Max Stotz, 5/JG54, Eastern Front 1943

This is supported by a fully coloured four-way painting guide.

The Verdict

The detail Eduard have packed into this kit is top quality, the finished model will definitely look right for the aircraft it purports to depict. The Fw 190 range from Eduard is probably the best out there. For £11.00 this is most definitely highly recommended.